Literature
My Meeting with the Byron of Our Times
Like the poet, Patrick Leigh Fermor was a dashing man of action and letters and a hero to the Greeks for his wartime exploits in Crete
Why The World Still Loves Shakespeare
The great endurance of the Bard
Better than a Grand Slam
Clive James: whether the culture is low or high, he is in it for the thrills
Kizerman and Feigenbaum
A short story
The Mourning After
The effervescent poetry of Herrick’s hangovers
Enigma of the East
The inspiration for Trakl’s final poem
Our Big Break
What does a sociopathic billionaire read on his private jet?
Zombie Nation
The origins of the undead
A Wee Drappie o’t
Walter Scott had a poor head for drink but quaffed it in quantities
Man Without God
When did the West become post-Christian?
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal